Each post in our 5 to Try series showcases five examples of stellar wines from varying wine styles, grapes, and Germany’s 13 winegrowing regions. This month, wine-lovers and animal-lovers can come together and cheers with this collection of wines featuring animals on their labels!
Animals like dogs, birds, and bugs play an important role in vineyards, whether serving as a close companion to the winemaker, enjoying casual employment as natural grazers or pest repellents, or simply by minding their own business and contributing to overall biodiversity. After all, a vineyard is an ecosystem in and of itself, and many winemakers practice great care (or purposeful lack of maintenance) to preserve this ecosystem.
For instance, bats are allies in protecting vines from disease-carrying insects, and their guano can be used as a natural fertilizer. Bees and butterflies pollinate, and some vintners pile up stones to encourage lizards to settle. Herds of local goat and sheep are often brought over to graze and manage overgrowth and weeds amongst the vines, and horses, donkeys, and mules can replace tractors in gently plowing vineyards (fertilizing as they go!). Finally, cats and dogs make for precious pets and can also be useful when it comes to keeping critters out of cellars.
As the list below shows, animals also make for great models and inspiration when it comes to wine labels! Curl up with your furry friends or gather some human companions and drink up these #5toTry.
1. Dachshund Riesling, Rheinhessen
Produced by Brett and Debra Halby, Dachshund Riesling celebrates their rescued dachshunds (Izzy, Doodle and Luke), the inspiration behind Dachshund Wines. After visiting the famous vineyards of Germany, Brett and Debra partnered with German winemakers on a project to pay homage to two of their passions: German wines and their favorite German dog breed! “Like the Riesling, Dachshunds are clearly influenced by their place of origin. Amusing, clever, affectionate and brave, they are cunning rascals at heart and very curious creatures.”
Animal pictured: Dachshund dog
Find near you: Wine-Searcher.com; Halby Marketing Distributors
2. Kruger-Rumpf ‘Estate’ Riesling, Nahe
The squirrel is the Rumpf family’s “spirit animal” and adorns the top of their family crest. The crest is embossed on many Kruger-Rumpf wine labels, but the squirrel enjoys special prominence on the Estate Riesling bottle. In this part of Germany, the most commonly found Eichhörnchen (German for “squirrel”) is the European red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). The copper-colored critter is native to Germany, and like the European red squirrel, red hair runs in the Rumpf family! Winemakers Georg, Philipp, and their father Stefan Rumpf take measures to protect the biodiversity of their vineyards and the creatures that make a home in and around their vines. They practice organic viticulture and work close to nature, keeping bees nearby and periodically allowing sheep and lamb to roam the vines to graze, helping to control underbrush.
Animal pictured: Squirrel
Find near you: Wine-Searcher.com
3. Jan Matthias Klein Papa Panda’s Rising Riesling, Mosel
7th generation Mosel winemaker Jan Matthias Klein has a lot of fun including animals on his playful wine labels. Overseeing Weingut Staffelter-Hof, one of the oldest estates in the world (dating all the way back to 862 and in the Klein family since the early 1800s), Jan converted the historic estate to organic viticulture and markets natural wines under his own name to differentiate them from the Staffelter-Hof portfolio. In addition to the pandas (part of Klein’s collaborative ‘Pandamonium’ line), he also features wolves on his “Little Red Riding Wolf” Spätburgunder, “Kiss Kiss Maddie’s Lips” Pet Nat Rosé, and “Little Bastard” White Blend, among others, as well as depicting orangutans on his “Orange Utan” orange wine blend.
Animal pictured: Panda
Find near you: Wine-Searcher.com
4. Friedrich Becker Pinot Gris, Pfalz
A little fox prancing under a grapevine adorns every bottle of the Becker family’s wines available in the United States. It quickly became their trademark and a signal of high quality since Friedrich Becker Sr. filled the first bottles with the fox label in 1973. At the time, Becker was a pioneer of dry wines when sweeter styles were more in fashion. People considered the drier styles to be sour, so Becker cleverly referenced an old fable of “the fox and the sour grapes” with this drawing. Today, winemakers across the Pfalz region and Germany focus on dry styles, and the Becker Family fox labels remain as a symbol that the estate was among the first to realize the category’s potential.
Animal pictured: Fox
Find near you: Wine-Searcher.com
5. Shelter Winery Lovely Lilly Pinot Noir, Baden
Beyond a single species, this wine honors a beloved pet. “Lovely Lilly” is named after the estate’s late vineyard and cellar dog, Lilly, who sadly passed in 2014. Her energy remains at the winery with a new pup “who has taken over all jumping, chasing, panting, running and bouncing-around duties.” Specializing in Spätburgunder in all its finest forms (red, rosé, Blanc de Noir, and sparkling), the name of the estate coincides with the husband-and-wife winemakers’ view of the cellar as a shelter for their wines, where grapes are processed in the most gentle way possible – as gravity and hard work are their only “pumps” and patience the only “filter.” Their philosophy of gentle vinification means harvesting low yields from vineyards tended carefully by hand with no herbicides or pesticides.
Animal pictured: Dog
Find near you: Wine-Searcher.com
Planning to try any of these 5 wines? Don’t forget to tag and follow @GermanWineUSA!
